Sega Saturn's NiGHTS earns autumn raves
Summer is over and all of us have to go back to school or to work in the real world. The endless 'NiGHTS' of playing video games until dawn are over - until Christmas, that is.
The summer had a fair mix of disappointment and surprise. The disappointment was the certain lack of a summer smash hit game. The big surprise was how good Super Mario 64 was.
The big rave of autumn is Sega Saturn's NiGHTS, touted as the best thing since jam doughnuts. One of the reasons is that the game was created by Yuji Naka, who created Sonic the Hedgehog, which has now spawned a host of merchandising items. The second is that the game will provide a 3-D type of play.
The game revolves around a being called NiGHTS who exists in a dream world called Nightopia, which just happens to have some evil bad guy called Wizeman threatening to destroy this wonderland. Wow, where have we heard this before? Apparently NiGHTS is a creation of this bad guy, and was supposed to be a part of his evil horde called the Nightmarens. For some reason, NiGHTS refused to be one of Wizeman's evil cronies or listen to any authority figure. The teens will love this. NiGHTS then enlists the help of Elliot Edwards and Claris Sinclair to help free him and help make the demise of Wizeman a reality.
Though the game is supposed to be 3-D, it is not. When you are walking, you can walk in any direction. That part is 3-D. Unfortunately, when flying you cannot go in and out. That is because you are flying on a course with only slight deviations.
The stages, or Dreams, are divided into sections. Each character has four. The main idea is to collect 20 blue spheres and place them in the Idea Capture, a type of collection box. This will release a glowing sphere called an Idea, which then has to be taken to the start of the level. When you have repeated this four times it is time to do battle with the Boss.
The game also has loads of hidden goodies. Some of these items are hidden very well. Some things will be gained if you do a loop around a group of balls, or even ride up the water fountain to reach the background as well as some new rings. Some of the other stuff is not so well hidden, such as the ball cages. These are usually hidden at the far ends of the level's screen.
Sega of Japan will be releasing a new analog controller for this game. This controller will give much more control to the characters in their 3-D environment.
One of the funnier things about this game is that it is graded. That unseen line in video games has been crossed. This is a game which parents might like and one which gamers might find irritating. The game is graded from A to F. This is done by an overall performance for each stage. Parents wanting to rub it in their children's faces have an opportunity to do just that.
I can just imagine my Mum saying: 'See you only got a D!' I would reply: 'That's a B! You need a new pair of bi-focals, Mum.' WHACK, and I am seeing Disney birds from Mum's cane with the brass handle.
Performance is determined by the number of points you have collected and by pulling off a number of consecutive aero acrobatics.
Besides all the cool play and neat graphics, the soundtrack is very varied.
Cheat Sheet Game: Fifa '96 Platform: Sony PlayStation Cheat: Dynamic Duo and Star Trek Once you start your game, pause, then go to the Options menu and enter the following code: Batman and Robin - Square, Triangle, X, Square, Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Square. Data and Spock - Square, Triangle, X, Square, Triangle, Triangle, X, X.
Game: Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Platform: Sega Saturn Cheat: 65,535 credits In Ultimate MK3, there is a cheat which will give you 65,535 credits.
In a one-player game, after you have used up all your credits and right before you lose a match, if you hit start on the second controller, the Select Game Type screen will come up and show that you have 65,535 credits instead of zero.
You have to hit start on the second controller before the game is actually over for this to work.
